The Dramaturg
What is their job?
The Dramaturg
What is their job?
1. Advise the director on the literary
aspects or historical facts of the play.
2. Help select theatre’s repertoire.
3. Translate, adapt, and/or edit texts
4. Clarify and explain cultural, social, and political aspects of a given
play.
5. Contribute to the content and design of posters, programs, press
releases, and other interactions with the media.
6. Collaborate with the director in casting.
7. Advise designers
8. Work with playwrights
9. Provide a second set of eyes and ears for the director to help keep a
production on track in rehearsal.
Greek Theatre 534?-400 BCE
Festival Dionysus
Dithyrambic Chorus
Thespis: First Actor, 534 BCE
Tragic Playwrights:
Aeschylus
Sophocles
Euripedes
Comic Playwright:
Aristophanes
Greek Performance:
Masks
Chorus
Ekkyklema
Greek Performance:
Periaktoi
Plan View of Theater at Epidaurus
Theatron –
“the seeing
place”
Orchestra
Paradoi
Skene
Ancient Greece
Aristotle: The Poetics, 335 BCE
Earliest surviving work of dramatic theory
and first philosophical treatise to focus on
literary theory.
Topics:
Definition of Tragedy
Parts of Tragedy
Rules for construction of Tragedy
Roman Theatre 240 BCE-568 AD
Comic Playwrights
Plautus
254-184 BCE
Terence
195-159 BCE
Tragic Playwright
Seneca
4 BCE-65 AD
Roman Republic Established
509 BCE
27 BCE Roman Empire
Established
Theatre at Orange
Orange, France
1st Century AD
Scaenae
frons
Ancient Rome
Theatre at Orange
Orange, France
1st Century AD
Ancient Rome
Theatre at Orange
Orange, France
1st Century AD
Ancient Rome
The Colosseum
Rome, Italy
1st Century AD
Ancient Rome
The Colosseum
Rome, Italy
1st Century AD
Ancient Rome
RIFT BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
AND ROMAN THEATRE
393 AD. Any religion other than
Christianity outlawed in the Roman Empire
398 AD Christians excommunicated from
Church if they went to theatre instead of
Church on holy days
398 AD Actors forbidden church sacrements
Ancient Rome
RIFT BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
AND ROMAN THEATRE. WHY?
1.
Associated with pagan gods and festivals
2.
Plays and practitioners offended church morals.
3.
Theatre often ridiculed the church.
Ancient Rome
The Fall of the Roman Empire
September 4, 476 AD
Ancient Rome
Medieval Drama – Mansions
Western Europe
After 925 AD
Medieval Europe
Medieval Drama – Pageant Wagons
Western Europe
1200 AD
Medieval Europe
Renaissance
Renaissance Drama Italy
Characters
Pantalone
Dottore
Capitano
Zanni
Teatro Olimpico
Vicenza, Italy
1580
Renaissance Italy
Theatre at Orange
Orange, France
1st Century AD
Ancient Rome
Teatro Olimpico
Vicenza, Italy
1580
Renaissance Italy
Teatro Farnese
Parma, Italy
1618
Renaissance Italy
Renaissance in England 1500-1642
Ben Jonson
Christopher Marlowe
William Shakespeare
Renaissance England
Globe Theatre (Shakespeare)
London, England
1599 – 1613 & 1614 - 1644
Renaissance England
Globe Theatre (Shakespeare)
London, England
1599 – 1613 & 1614 - 1644
Renaissance England
Globe Theatre (Shakespeare)
Tiring House
London, England
1599 – 1613 & 1614 - 1644
Galleries
Inner Above
Stage
Inner Below
Pit
Renaissance England
Private Theatre
(Staurt Court Masques)
English Renaissance
Late 16th Century
Renaissance England
Private Theatre
(Staurt Court Masques)
English Renaissance
Late 16th Century
Renaissance England
English Civil War
1642-1651 Roundheads vs. Royalists
England
English Interregnum
1649-1660
Oliver Cromwell, England
Execution!
1649
King Charles I, England
English Interregnum
1649-1660
Oliver Cromwell, England
English Restoration
1660-1700
Charles II England
English Restoration
Drury Lane Theatre
English Restoration
Comedy of Manners
French Renaissance
1500-1700
Renaissance France
French Tennis Courts
France
Mid 16th Century
Renaissance France
Hôtel de Bourgogne 1595-1629
Only permanent
theatre in Paris
Jean Racine 1639-1699
Moliere 1622-1673
Pierre Corneille 1606-1684
SPANISH RENAISSANCE
1580-1680
Renaissance Spain
Corral Theatre of Almagro
Almagro, Spain
1628
Renaissance Spain
Modern Theatre
1875-1975
Influences
Charles Darwin: On the Origin of Species
Karl Marx: Das Kapital
Sigmund Freud: Interpretation of Dreams
Political and social unrest
Fragmentation of society
5 Theatrical Movements
in the Modern Era
1. Realism
2. Rejection of realism
3. Eclecticism
4. Continuation of Popular Theatre
5. Globalization
Realism
Henrik Ibsen
August Strindberg
Anton Chekhov
3 early realistic playwrights.
American Realism
Eugene O’Neill
Arthur Miller
Tennessee Williams
3 later realistic playwrights from the US.
The New Stagecraft
Adolphe Appia
Edward Gordon Craig
Robert Edmond Jones
Eclectics
Popular Theatre
Theatre in Japan
Origins: 350 BCE
Noh
Kabuki
Bunraku
Theatre in Japan
Noh Drama
Derived from the word for skill or talent.
Musical drama performed since the 14th century
Based on stories from traditional literature
Uses masks, costumes, and dance.
Theatre in Japan
Kabuki
Most popular form of theatre in Japan.
A dance/drama performed since the 17th century
Relies on live music and spectacle
Uses elaborate makeup,
Theatre in Japan
Bunraku
Puppet theatre
Very precise movements that lead to expressive puppets.
Founded in 1684
Three types of performers: puppeteers, chanters, and musicians
Theatre in China
Origins: 1122-225 BCE Dance Rituals
Beijing Opera
Unrelated to western opera
Came to popularity in the 19th century
Includes: acrobatics and dance related movements, musical
accompaniment, vocal performance, elaborate costumes, and
makeup